Religion in Spain

Are you going on holiday to Spain? Do you want to know about the different religions in Spain? Here we’ve provided you with facts & information about the history of religion in Spain

The religion of the majority of the population of Spain is Catholicism. The Catholic religion in Spain has strong roots spanning centuries and is still present in Spain today. The head quarters of the church of the Catholic religion in Spain today are in the Spanish city of Toledo. From here, the Spanish Catholic Church continues to pronounce religious edicts on matters not confined to religion, but often society. Because the government of Spain is now a secular one, it can no longer be said that the catholic religion is the official religion of Spain; however, the church of this religion still receives special treatment in Spain. Among the privileges meted out to the Catholic religion in Spain is the fact that it is the only religion in Spain that still receives some official state funding from the government.

Decline of the Catholic Church in Spain

Like the rest of Europe, Spain is now largely a secular country which means that inevitably religion in general, and the catholic religion in particular has lost power in Spain. There seems to be a confrontation taking place between the guardians of the Catholic religion in Spain and the Spanish government. The Spanish government in recent years has forwarded moves to legalise same gender marriage and promote abortion, both of which are strictly forbidden according to the Catholic religion and go against traditional Spanish culture. The Church has in turn responded by asking professionals such as doctors and lawyers who are adherents to the Catholic religion not to become involved in divorce cases or abortion practices in Spain.

Islam in Spain

The Muslim religion reigned supreme in Spain for four hundred years bringing with it great advances in civilization. When the Muslim religion was the official religion of the ruling class in Spain, a policy of freedom of religion was implemented in Spain which allowed, among other things, followers of the Jewish religion to flourish in Spain. The legacy of the Muslim religion’s presence in Spain is still visible in the gardens and palaces of Cordoba built during that era; however, upon the Catholic conquest of Spain adherents to the Muslim religion were either forced to convert to Christianity or leave Spain. This means that in modern Spain there are no indigenous Spanish followers of the Muslim religion (apart from recent converts to the Muslim religion). There are, however, over half a million followers of the Muslim religion in Spain today, most of whom are recent immigrants to Spain who originally come from Morocco.